Christmas Eve Morning 2012...

It has been our tradition since before the kids were born to have our own little Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve morning..so, this year was no exception.

It was simple. Just the way we like it.

The kids open a few simple gifts and we eat breakfast.

Then we enjoy the rest of the day together and of course getting ready for our next Christmas Eve gathering with more family which took place later that evening..

Here a few photos of the kids opening some of their gifts...

pretty stoked about the rc car!

a home for ants!

We had a make-shift smaller tree this year the kids decorated. Rocky made an origami star for it. :-)

let them make cake!! :-)

We have always kept our gift giving quaint. Not too big, just enough. Just looking at the above photo you can see that. Rocky decided to buy an experience...a father-daughter baking experience. Now, you know I have issues with the ingredients of the box cake and the icing (I'd personally would have bought Nutella in place of the frosting if not making it from scratch,but I do believe this was a very thoughtful gift on Rocky's part. A very sweet idea. I know she will LOVE baking with her daddy, despite the ingredients. This is me letting things go...going with the flow....after all it isn't about me. It's what you do the most of the time that matters.

I love seeing the joy on the kids faces around the light of the Christmas tree. Those little folks are precious little people and our most treasured gifts from God!

Have a blessed day!

Love, Kelly

Christmas: Tree Decorating

Hello!

I will be starting a little series of posts documenting Christmas of 2012. This is installment #1 and will give glimpses of the annual Christmas tree decorating at Debi & Gary's home. This year Tina & Stephen joined in on the fun. Special memories....

classic deer-caught-in-the-headlights look

getting ornaments from grandpa for the tree

us and a fox.

grandma passing out ornaments to the short folks..

More Christmas posts coming soon...

Have a happy evening!

-Kelly

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it is already 2013! Is it just me or did 2012 fly by?

Now for some randomness...yesterday I discovered  I am part Scottish. Funny that it took me until my 30's to develop an interest in my family history. Sad? Yes. But, now my curiosity has been perked and I am eager to find out more. All I know thus far is that my early relatives have a castle in Scotland called the Guthrie Castle. Hmmm...I do believe Rocky, the kids and I will have to do some traveling to go visit "my" castle as well as "his" castle, the castle in Germany for the Faber part of his family. I will have to discover what the name of that castle is. :-)

A brief overview of today...the kids and I enjoyed some quality time at Barnes and Noble in an attempt to get out of the house. This was perfect because...we are such little bookworms and it was raining. Perfection. Yes, and the peppermint mocha coffee I enjoyed while exploring books with my babes made the outing even more perfect (I know, bad mama for splurging, but it sure was a nice way to start the new year!).
I have been loving having River home from school. Sending him back to school after break is going to be so difficult.:-(

Blessings to you this next year! May it be your best year yet!

Here is a little New Year's Blessing I love and thought I would share...

"May light always surround you;
Hope kindle and rebound you.
May your hurts turn to healing;
Your heart embrace feeling.
May wounds become wisdom;
Every kindness a prism.
May laughter infect you;
Your passion resurrect you.
May goodness inspire
your deepest desires.
Through all that you reach for;
may your arms never tire."

~D. Simone.


Until next time...happy new year!

-Kelly